Like Flu, Airborne Ebola transmissions need Winter type conditions to maximize Aerosol infection

[apples and oranges]

There is no strong evidence of secondary transmission by the aerosol route in African filovirus outbreaks. However, aerosol transmission is thought to be possible and may occur in conditions of lower temperature and humidity which may not have been factors in outbreaks in warmer climates. At the very least, the potential exists for aerosol transmission, given that virus is detected in bodily secretions, the pulmonary alveolar interstitial cells, and within lung spaces"

http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/4/10/2115

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0041918

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1997182/

http://vet.sagepub.com/content/50/3/514.full

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4113787/

This is not to cause panic, but it's to help some people understand why some of us are taking the botched response to ebola in America very seriously. The list of people being monitored is expanding everyday. If this outbreak isn't 100% contained before winter hits, we're going to be in completely new territory with a virus that has never had the chance to flourish in a cold climate (and will adapt accordingly).

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Winter is coming.

[FSogol]

2. Unrec. "This is not to cause panic" - yeah, right.

Winter conditions are why it spreads thru Africa, right?

[progressoid]

3. +1

I'll second that.

[AwakeAtLast]

4. That's not what I got from the post

It spreads through Africa the same way it has always spread through Africa: bodily fluids. It does not spread through Africa in the air because it is too warm or too moist or both.

They do not know how this virus will spread in a colder, drier environment. It may be possible for it to spread through the air that way.

That's what I got from this post. I feel it is cause to be cautious, not to panic.

If our medical community in this country gets on the stick, they could make serious headway with this virus - that would be a very good thing to happen if they follow proper procedures and don't panic.

[FSogol]

6. It is not an airborne virus and will not mutate into one.

Name one virus that has done so, I'll wait.

[AwakeAtLast]

7. I'm not a medical professional

and did not claim to be. I was just stating what I got from the post. No need to wait.

[FSogol]

8. I didn't have to wait because the answer is zero. Of course, that doesn't stop DU from having

12-20 threads agonizing over it becoming airborne.

[AwakeAtLast]

10. Does that mean you have to be snarky about it?

God forbid anyone else state something different. I don't believe I was agonizing and I haven't read every thread on the subject.

I still say caution is valid. I don't believe that is the same as panic.

[FSogol]

12. I don't have any beef with you aside from your support of the OP's FUD

And you are correct, caution is valid. Spreading FUD isn't

[Darb]

5. Are you saying airborne or

sneeze in your face?

If a person infected with Ebola sneezes in your face, regardless of the season, you could get the virus. But floating around in the air, not so much.

[cascadiance]

11. I think that is what is meant by saying "aerosol transmission"

That no, it doesn't just hang around in the air and spread by people breathing in air that someone else with the virus has breathed in to.

But if you are next to the person who sneezes and the droplets from their sneeze land on you, then you can get infected. Getting on your clothes is probably not a big deal, but if some of those droplets land in your face, in particular your eyes or near your mouth and nostrils, you probably have more to worry about. I think that airlines should minimally as a precaution force those passengers who wish to travel on flights in the U.S. from areas of this infection like Africa, be forced to purchase tickets next to them of people not traveling them, so that there isn't a risk of people being sneezed upon sitting next to them. This will be a big challenge come holiday season when flights are crowded, and you have many people going many different places to minimize the chance of people catching this disease in transit. I think that the time outside the body that this virus can survive is pretty low, so I don't think there's a risk of spetum, etc. in the seating area from a previous flight infecting you, but this probably is and should be studied by the CDC, to have some resolutions on some sort of safe protocol to follow before holiday season hits us.

The risk of not at least publicly identifying that it can be spread via aerosol transmission is that some may think that even sneezing can't spread it to them, if they think it is a virus like AIDs that requires more intimate contact to be spread and not recognize a situation where they really could have been infected, or could have taken more precautions to avoid being infected.

[jeff47]

9. Yay! Let's spread more panic by spewing bullshit!!!

Claiming you're not trying to spread panic is a nice touch.

The influenza virus is actually transmittable by air. The fact that an ebola patient might transmit the disease by spitting on your open wound doesn't mean it's being transmitted by air.